A PLACE TO RAISE CHILDREN

A Community that Provides for the Needs and Aspirations of Families Raising Children

There was a time when family meant aunts and uncles, grandparents, brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces all living under the same roof, or at least nearby. The support systems were huge and the pressure on parents was less. Then we shifted into the nuclear family of father, mother and children. The pressure increased, and it increased again when both parents found they had to work in order to pay the bills. Families began to be crushed by the pressure, resulting in solo parents and remarriages or live-in partnerships. Increasingly, parents came to rely on paid services such as day-care, and on electronic media, to keep the children occupied.
Parents who have the time to observe become concerned about their children, about the values they are learning, and how they are being prepared for their future. Life has, for children, become harder, less kind.  Many parents are looking for a better way, but cannot find it. The VillageTown offers what they seek.

A Village of Young Families Who Grow Together

We expect that some villages will specifically be formed for parenting. Parents of young children will come together to form truly sustainable communities, meaning they will have a constant life-cycle of young, middle and old. Some elements that relieve the pressure on parenting young children include:

• Proximity and outdoor living. Villages are active, the streets and plaza draw children away from TV, computers and video games, to play in the streets, on the plazas and out in the greenbelt. Adults are all around, and parents can share child-minding, either informally, or as an organized system. Parents will invest in extra beds, for what in New Zealand is called the sleep-over (where young, pre-teen children visit each other overnight). Proximity means parents work nearby and giving them more time for their children.
• The complete community, especially having a place for elders. The support role of elders is usually un-monetized, and often not noticed. It is a mutual support system, as it fulfils the elder as much as it provides a connection for the young. With their presence, parents can get more breathing space.
• The local economy. It costs less to live. Less money needs to be spent on keeping children entertained, especially if the TV advertising can be shut off.

When children of the VillageTown come into their teens, it can be expected that the transition will be less difficult on the parents because of the inherent freedom that is part of VillageTown life. It is safe for teens to gather in the youth zone or in the Town Center. Some of the abusive habits that are common in the suburbs will be harder to hide in a pedestrian 24/7 community, where adults are present. Also, the guild halls and other social and cultural activity provide more things to do, less invitation to get into trouble; these places and the activities they foster make life more interesting.

If you know someone who fits this profile and should learn about VillageTowns, spread the word, especially if they would like to do it in the Midwest.

A COMPLETE COMMUNITY

A Complete Community

The VillageTown can be expected to be attractive, meaning it will attract people for the qualities it offers. It will be beautiful, vibrant, dynamic, resilient, and at the onset very affordable. This could result in the VillageTown rapidly becoming a bastion of privilege affordable only to the rich and the comfortable class. This is not its intent, and for this reason, it includes designs, contracts and rules that ensure a more complete community:

• By using parallel market real estate it will assure that home pricing operates on multiple markets targeting at a broad range of society.
• By including an industrial park, it provides jobs that do not require university education and adds a blue collar component.
• By attracting the creative class, it provides social and cultural diversity of artists and cultural creatives.
• By hosting a tertiary college, university or research facility, it adds an intellectual component.
• With its no-car rule, it puts those who cannot drive on an equal footing with those who can.
• With its cradle to grave scope of design, it assures the full age range of society remains part of the community. It's safer, easier to get around.
• By having each village set its own theme, it creates both like-mindedness that people enjoy, and diversity by walking to the next village.

A Safe Community

The one area where the VillageTown strives not to be representative of society is in crime and poverty. In crime, it expects that the presence of adults 24/7, the lack of cars that gives criminals mobility and the structure of the villages where people know each other will make it hard for crime to take hold. In terms of poverty, it is entirely possible that at the onset, the VillageTown may take in families who are on state support (welfare, benefit, the dole). However, its intent is to provide the support that permanently restores those families to independence. 

Part of the cross section of society can be expected to include those who are disabled or infirm, including those suffering from both syndromic and non-syndromic disabilities. In this regard, the VillageTown can be expected to be kinder to those needing kindness, and firmer with those who abuse. 

On the upper end of the economic spectrum, a complete community does include the rich as well. In free societies, some people pursue money-making as their purpose in life, and they measure their worth by what they own.

This model of town takes the best of the village and combines it with the economic strength and security of a larger town.  For more information, look at villagetowns.net.  Then let me know if you are interested in developing one in the Midwest.  I’m not looking for investors.  I’m looking for people interested in living in a VillageTown. Write me!

WHAT IS A VILLAGE TOWN?

A Village Town Is...

... a town made of villages and  

...a place where people connect.

By villages we mean side-by-side but separate, identifiable face-to-face communities of approximately 500 people, typically about 200 homes. Villages have a central plaza that define the energy of the village, the central meeting place where people work, shop, socialize and stroll. People live in the village. Most work there on the plaza or in a nearby office near the town square or the industrial park. Their young children go to school in the village, and the village provides a place for them in all stages of life. Villages tend to develop character based on the mix of personalities who live there. Each one has its own look, feel and flavor because its theme and style was set by its founding citizens.

The Problem With Villages is Economic

The problem with villages is economic. With 500 people a community can probably support a general store. But with 5,000 people a community can support a bookstore, a watch maker, a hardware store, and at 10,000 people a community will have a thriving local economy because the critical mass of customers exist for the businesses to do well.

The word comes from the ancient Greek word polis which is usually translated as City-State. Unlike the City-State, the VillageTown exists within the protection of the larger holons of the state and nation, but like the City-State its purpose for existence is to enable its citizens to enjoy a good life... conviviality, citizenship, artistic, intellectual and spiritual growth. In the City-State everything people needed was within walking distance including its food source. Population and land coverage was about the same. It is our 21st century shift in technology that makes the polis life viable once again.

There are three different VillageTown types: country-market town, urban reclamation, suburban alternative

THE VILLAGETOWN; AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME...

 THE VILLAGETOWN; AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME...

What if you could relocate your small/medium business to a timeless, beautiful and authentic village among villages with a total population of around 10,000 where:

• The children can play together safely because there is no automobile traffic
• Commuting away from home is not necessary
• The elders live in safety and dignity among people of all ages
• Resources are managed sustainably, and planning is done for seven generations
• You are part of a diversity of talent
• Design rather than rules help people get along without telling them how to live
• We create and sustain a complete community with a self-supporting local economy that enables its citizens, youth and visitors to enjoy a good life, understood as the social pursuits of conviviality, Citizenship, Artistic, Intellectual and Spiritual growth 

And you could move to a home that was:

• At least as roomy as your current house or apartment, but less expensive to keep;
• Fireproof, earthquake-proof, and virtually soundproof;
• Within walking distance of: 

• Your work
• Schools and university
• Shopping, small businesses and a locally owned bank
• Live theater, concerts, artists and art displays
• Unique, locally owned restaurants and cafes serving well-prepared, slow food
• Plazas where friends can gather
• Preventive health care, urgent care and elder care
• Athletic, equestrian and festival fields
• Parks, gardens, forests, meadows and wildlife
• A fully equipped indoor athletic complex
• Fresh, natural, locally grown food
• Locally owned research and manufacturing facilities
• Diverse local professional services

If a place like this in the Midwest appeals to you, contact me.  I would like to hear from you, especially if you are a small/medium business owner in the St. Louis, St. Charles, or WestPlex area.  For more details on the VillageTown concept (which I did not develop), go to villagetowns.net.